The San Jose Repertory Theatre have presented a beautiful production of Bohmler
and Adler's Enter the Guardsman. I have always liked this Ferenc Molnar
play. I have seen it three times over the years plus the film with
the Lunts in the starring roles. I also saw Maggie Smith and Brian Bedford
in a splendid performance of the play 14 years ago in Los Angeles. ACT
also did the play several seasons ago, but somehow they did not capture
the spirit of the work.

My first experience with Enter the Guardsman was the opening night of the
musical at the Donmar in London on September 17, 1997. There in that small
space of a theater surrounded on three sides by audience, I fell in love
with this gem of a musical. Unfortunately the London critics gave it mixed
reviews and it closed on October 17, 1997. I had asked if there were any
plans for the musical to be recorded and the answer was an emphatic “NO.” I
had also hoped the musical would somehow get to the States. Enter the
Guardsman finally reached our shores and played Off-Broadway in New York,
and has since played in regional theaters throughout the land. It still
has not been recorded, unfortunately. Where the Donmar production was on a
small stage with little scenery, the San Jose Rep had a full scale
production of this melodic comedy/drama. Also, the composer himself was personally involved; he lives in nearby Los Gatos.

The musical is based on the 1911 play The Guardsman by Ferenc Molnar. The
lead characters are a leading actress and her co-star husband of the
Vienna stage. They are used to role playing but their marriage of six
months is starting to lose its spark. The once vibrant partnership seems
to be threatened. The actress is very beautiful and has many admirers, and the
husband is convinced that she will seek pleasure elsewhere.

The actress starts receiving roses from a secret admirer. Each day more
and more roses arrive until the room is full of roses. We find out the
secret admirer turns out to be the husband since he wants to test the
loyalty of the wife. To further find out if she is faithful, he takes on
the disguise of a mustached Austrian guardsman with a heavy Austrian
accent. The husband said he is leaving Vienna for several days to play
Hamlet in the provinces and when he leaves, enter the guardsman. The
Guardsman sweeps the lovely actress off of her feet but both are now
forced to confront the truths of their relationship. I won't disclose the
ending but it is up to the audience to determine if the wife knew of the
masquerade.

The production is tuneful, poignant and charming, with clever lyrics by
Marion Adler and a book by Scott Wentworth. There is a little bit of
Sondheim in the lyrics of Adler, and the melodies of Bohmler are enchanting.
His tunes are alternately sprightly and lush. There are some rousing songs
such as “Enter the Guardsman” and some lovely songs like “Waiting in the
Wings” and “My One Great Love”. “Chopin” sounds like it came from the pen
of Lerner and Lowe.

The characters in the production have no names and so they use generic
terms. David Ledingham plays the loyal, decent and confused husband whose
cruel fate it is to become jealous of himself. He has a winning voice and
he threw himself into the screwball machinations of the guardsman.
Sometimes he sounded like Richard Burton, particularly in the song,
“Chopin.”

Susan Hanson is marvelous as the actress. She has a sly, teasing sensual
way with a song. She is sassy and sexy all at the same time. Ms. Hanson
has a well trained voice. She has appeared as one of the singers in Master
Class with Faye Dunaway on tour. Peter Van Norden played the dapper
playwright. He sweeps into the action and keeps the play moving with his
wit. He also sings the wonderful sing/talk song “They Die” with
great gusto.

Meg Mackay, as the actress's devoted dresser, was
wonderful in the small but pivotal role. She lights up the stage in the
second act when she sings the most memorable song of the evening, “Waiting
in the Wings”. It is a lovely song that she sings hauntingly. The rest of the
small cast, Army McAlexander, Laurent Giroux and Colin Thomson, were all
fine their roles.

The sets and lighting were excellent. I particularly liked the wheeled in
sets of his and her dressing rooms that reminded me of the sets for Kiss
Me Kate. The costumes were gorgeous and the direction by Lillian
Garrett-Groag was superb. This was a perfect little chamber-like musical.
A real euphonious gem. It closed on January 14.

San Jose Rep's next production will be Aliens in America, a sharply funny
one-woman show performed by public radio commentator, humorist and fiction
writer, Sandra Tsing Lou. It's set to run from February 3 to March 4,
2001.